


Widogast's Way of the Wingman

by thatoldeblackmagic



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Gen, Pre-Relationship, barest hint of one sided widojest bc i cant help myself, missing scene from ep 89, watch caleb wingman by being a supportive friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:33:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21878200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatoldeblackmagic/pseuds/thatoldeblackmagic
Summary: “Jester, will you tell me what is wrong?”She lifts her head up just enough to look at him with watery eyes.  She sniffs, scrunching up her nose before responding, “What do you do when someone is mad at you, and you kind of maybe think you know why, but you aren’t for sure for sure, and you don’t know what to do about it?”
Relationships: Jester Lavorre & Caleb Widogast, Jester Lavorre/Beauregard Lionett
Comments: 8
Kudos: 235





	Widogast's Way of the Wingman

Noise has never really bothered Caleb when he’s trying to concentrate, not like Wulf who could only ever study in the furthest corner of the library or in the peaceful quiet of nightfall. It comes in handy quite a bit, right now especially since Caduceus has been playing that death flute non stop for the past 4 hours.

No, for Caleb it’s always been motion. A movement in his periphery is infinitely more distracting to him than any amount, volume, or pitch of noise.

Unluckily for him, Jester is moping. She’s been wearing down the floor of the inn, alternating from stalking around the garden, to pacing around the main room, up the stairs, back down again, up to the bar, out the front door, in the back, again and again and again.

Caleb’s concentration is absolutely shot. He knows he can work through these notes, he’s finally got the gist of what Halass what rambling about, but it’s hard to focus on anything when the blue one just won’t. be. still.

She’s back in the main room, looking rather lost as she wanders around, picking random things up off tables, tapping her fingers against the wood grain of the closest chair. Caleb sighs.

“Jester,” he calls out to her. Her head snaps over to him so quickly that her jewelry smacks against her cheek. She doesn’t smile at him, which is the more upsetting than he will ever admit, a clear sign that something is wrong. He kicks a chair at his table. “Come sit by me.”

She moves over, walks rather than bounces, and falls rather than sits into the offered chair. Her head drops to rest on the table, her blue hair falling partially onto Caleb’s notes, as she lets out a world weary sigh.

The dramatics would be funny if Caleb thought she was doing them on purpose. As things stand now, he does not.

Caleb reaches out and presses his pointer finger into the whorl of hair at the top of her head. “Jester, will you tell me what is wrong?”

She lifts her head up just enough to look at him with watery eyes. She sniffs, scrunching up her nose before responding, “What do you do when someone is mad at you, and you kind of maybe think you know why, but you aren’t for sure for sure, and you don’t know what to do about it?”

Caleb blinks. Unable to parse out the last half of that sentence, he focuses in on the first bit and replies, “Who do you think is mad at you?”

“Beau,” She’s resting her chin on her folded left arm, her face turned toward Caleb and mouth in a hard pout. “She hasn’t talked to me all day.”

“She has not been here all day.”

“Exactly! Beau left as soon as she got up and didn’t even say bye! She never even said where she was going!” Jester looks away from Caleb to where her right hand is picking at a splinter on the table. She sighs again, softer this time before continuing, “I think Beau is avoiding me.”

Caleb hums thoughtfully, taking a moment to choose his next words. “I do not think Beau is avoiding you and I certainly do not think she is upset with you. I believe she was eager to get to the library as early as she could-”

“She told you?!” Jester sits up and stares at Caleb in disbelief. “She told you she was going to the library? Why didn’t she tell me? I thought she just left!” Jester sags in her chair, slumping so her face is level with the edge of the table. “She’s so mad at me. Caleb I don’t know what to do.”

Jester is on the edge of tears and suddenly Caleb is so far out of his element it’s almost giving him whiplash. “It was just a passing comment.” He says, trying to soothe. “I saw her on her way out and she mentioned it offhand. Beau would not purposefully try to exclude you, she is not that cruel.”

It works a bit. Jester seems less teary, though just as upset as she worries her bottom lip. She stays silent, her eyes focused on something far away, so Caleb continues, “I would like to help you sort this out, but I need more context as to why you believe Beau is so upset with you. Has she done something in particular? Have you done something you believe upset her?”

Jester sits up and continues to pick at the splinter as she talks. “It’s just, we’re roommates you know? We’ve always been roommates. It’s like every night is a sleepover with my best friend and I thought that she wanted that too but, well. When we came here she wanted her own room, and what if like, she’s always wanted her own room, and she never wanted to share with me at all!”

“And, and well.” Jester continues, on a roll. “I think she’s mad because I couldn’t save her in the church. Caduceus was inside Obann and Beau was on the floor and I didn’t know what to do! It seemed like we were all going to die, and I just left her there.” She tapers off, sniffling again.

Caleb is beginning to understand. He looks at her for a few seconds, taking in the way she’s refusing to look at him, the shine that is back in her eyes, her pout turned down at the corners.

“Jester,” He says and, thank goodness, she looks over at him. Caleb doesn’t smile, but its a near thing, as he softly says, “You know better. Beau would never be upset with you over something like that. I can see you are upset with yourself, however Beau is not one to hold something like that against you.”

She openly stares at him for two seconds before her pout turns watery. “I know you’re right. Ugh, I hate that you’re always right about everything all the time, you little know it all!”

Caleb does smile this time, the first time since entering Rexxentrum, and says, “Wizard perks. One of many.”

It gets her to laugh which Caleb counts as a win. She leans forward, bracing her elbows against the table and resting her chin in her hands. “That’s all I can think of though! She’s definitely mad at me and I don’t know what else she would be mad at me for!”

“You will have to ask her. I do not believe speculating about it will help in this case."

"Hmmmmmm," Jester hums thoughtfully, pulling at her bottom lip with her teeth. "What if she wasn't mad about that, then I bring it up and she realizes that I totally left her on the ground and then she actually gets mad about it? Caleb what if I just make things even worse by talking to her about it?"

Caleb sighs a bit, fond more than anything, and says, "What did I just say about speculation? As for the roommate thing, she certainly did not mean to hurt your feelings. Once she saw you were upset, she offered to room with you again.”

“Only because I pushed her to do it.” Jester huffs and blows her bangs back off her forehead. “Beau wouldn’t have done that if I hadn’t been obnoxious about it. I think she actually secretly hates me.”

And there it is, the dramatics just for the sake of it. It’s certainly a comfort that Jester is feeling well enough to throw around her usual brand of melodrama, though it still comes as a surprise to Caleb that he is able to do this. Able to read his friend and say the right thing in response.

“Ja that must be it. She totally hates you.” Caleb looks at her deadpan and continues, “It is obvious in the way she enjoys hanging out with you and is considerate of your feelings. Only someone who truly hates you would do those things.”

Jester lifts her chin off of her hands just long enough to flip him off. “You hate me too. Obviously.”

“Obviously,” He agrees. Jester smiles at him from across the table, and it comes as a shock to realize he’s been waiting for it. That it settles something inside of him.

He shakes it off and continues, “This is a conversation you should be having with Beau. I still do not believe she is upset with you, or avoiding you, but the only way to settle this is to talk with her directly.”

“Uuugghhhh.” Jester lets her head fall to the table. She says slightly muffled by the table, “Stop being right always, it’s annoying.”

Caleb shrugs, “I cannot help it.”

“Ugh. Uuugghhhhh fine. I’ll talk to Beau when she gets back. You sneaky wizard.” She rolls her head from forehead to cheek, a page of notes rolling along with her, and sticks her tongue out at Caleb.

Caleb picks off the page stuck to her face, rolls it up, and bonks her on the head. “Sit here with me until she does. Your pacing around the inn earlier was distracting.”

“More distracting than if I sit right next to you and do this?” She proceeds lean across the table and blow a raspberry inches from his face.

Caleb gathers up the rest of his notes and gets them out of the splash zone. “Somehow, yes.”

Jester laughs and pulls her sketchbook out of the haversack. “Well fine then. I will sit here and I will sketch you since you are being such a good model.” She smiles at him again before shifting her attention to rifling through her bag for her charcoal.

The remainder of the afternoon passes peacefully. Jester hums a melody under her breath as she sketches, periodically looking back and forth from her muse back to her art. Caleb is able to refocus on his work, enough that he can pretend not to notice as Jester draws smiley faces in the margins of a stray page of his own notes.

Eventually Beau returns, and Jester springs into gear, quickly shoving her art supplies back into her bag before rushing over to meet her at a table. 

Caleb keeps an ear out for their conversation and can barely keep up with how disjointed it is, Jester’s winding run-on of a ramble punctuated by Beau’s curt interjections, but he can’t help but smile, just a bit. It’s endearing to watch two people he cares for be so endeared to each other. How they compliment each other so well, how Beau immediately loosens up, how earnest and open Jester is.

It’s sweet. They will do well together, if it ever happens. If Beau decides to take that leap. Or maybe if Jester realizes what she wants rather than what she thinks she does.

They've long since resolved the argument that never actually was, moving on to Molly and tarot cards of all things. They've both leaned into each other's space. Jester is practically sitting in Beau's lap as she pulls out Molly's cards and Caleb finds himself hoping they work out.

For his sake as much as their own.

**Author's Note:**

> Jester mentioned to Beau she had been sitting around all day, which I took to mean bothering Caleb who was also in the room. I've been so starved for some good quality Jester and Caleb interactions I figure I would just make my own. Then Beau and Jester.. their convo was just... so cute. I can't stop thinking about it.
> 
> Anyway!!! Thank you for reading!!


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